Make art, not (small) talk

Today we began our first real trip with Little Green.  Our Maiden Voyage.  A trip to camp at Pinecrest, northwest of Yosemite, with the Oliver clan.  Our first time there with them-this year marks their fiftieth year camping together at Pinecrest.  But it was not meant to be.

We spent Saturday and Sunday getting Her ready, very much hurried and last minute like because we spent some of our preparation week at the Dr, instead.  A routine eye appt. became a visit to a specialist, an MRI, a Catscan, a follow-up with the specialist, and a battery of lab tests, all inconclusive at this point.  But we were cleared to go on our trip, if a bit behind in our pre-trip tasks.  Nevertheless we set out this morning at 5:45, freezer and fridge full of food for a week, and most of the comforts of a little home.  We hummed along, singing road tunes and enjoying our new escape-mobile.  We had no overheating at all, but, once we began to climb a bit, she chugged a little.  Then alot.  Then she died.  Right in the middle of the road, out in the middle of nowhere.  Well, Lida, Nevada, or thereabouts. 

We smiled, then set to executing Plan B.  The first car we flagged down stopped.  A couple from the Netherlands traveling from Idyllwild to Yosemite, the San Francisco and back to L.A.  Soon after, a truck pulled up and asked if we needed help.  I said, “yes, please” so they stopped too.  Soon the men were under the hood, snooping around.  Jumper cables were pulled out, a jump was attempted and failed.  It seemed like our starter had died.  The nearest town was not at all near, and we were just shy of the Lida Summit at 7400 ft.  We backed the car in neutral to the side of the road.  All four of us would not fit in either the car or the truck, so Steve went with the couple in the truck and I rode with the kids with the people from The Netherlands (which, I found out by asking, is only one place, not several as the plural s implies.  The Netherlands are mostly below sea level and nether-lands means low lands. duh.)  We stopped at the first inhabited place we saw which was a farm, of sorts.  The lady of the house looked suspicious until I began to speak in Spanish, in which case we were invited in to use the phone to call AAA.  Eventually (maybe almost 2 two hours later) a huge rig tow truck came to pick us up, and we were off to retrieve Little Green, the broken rig.  The kids snuggled in the air conditioned cab bed, and we enjoyed life in a big rig for another two hours.  Anna Joy even fell asleep for a bit. 

So now here we are in Tonopah, Nevada, the #1 place for Stargazing in the United States.  The tow was quite pricey, but AAA will reimburse for much of it.  The tow truck driver’s brother is the mechanic, and they seem like good people.  Good people helped us earlier, that is for sure.  We could have ended up in the middle of nowhere in 100 degree weather, but it was pleasantly breezy and cool where we landed.  We could have run over the side of the mountain, but did not.

I keep thinking, “this is good.  The kids need to know that one can break down and not have a complete breakdown over it.  That asking for help is ok.  That folks like to help out.  That sometimes plans get changed, but it is all still an adventure.  That the world is not so dangerous when you are trusting God, no matter what happens.  That we are in His very capable hands, and, so, we are glad.  Tired but glad.  And maybe a bit broke.”

We met some older full-timers on our second visit to Camping World who were very friendly. Turns out they blew out their transmission on their first trip.  So things could be worse.  And they are still rving with a smile and a song.  Maybe we will see some shooting stars tonight.  And the beds here are nice and firm.  Thanks God.

My husband tells me that the emotions I am galloping through right now come from buyers remorse, which is completely normal he also tells me.  Yesterday we noticed that the window in the door into the coach was about an inch lower than it should be.  I removed some screws to see what was going on and discovered that the ‘putty tape’ that holds the window in place was hard and broken in many places.  So we bought some more and can hopefully do the job adequately so that the window doesn’t fall and break.  We also bought a roll of ‘Eternabond’ to the tune of $75.  We need to patch the gray water tank, and it will no doubt come in handy for other issues which require something a bit more permanent than duct tape.

We also took Little Green to a mechanic to have him give her the once over.  The ‘fan clutch’ is broken and the radiator needs to be cleaned out.  And we need new belts and hoses.  And all of this to the tune of over seven hundred dollars.  Ouch.  But she started up just fine after sitting in our driveway for a week.  So there is that.

Interiorially (I can make up my own words if I feel like it), the carpet is torn out.  So now it feels even more old and dirty.  She needs a thorough vacuuming, and then a good scrubbing with some Murphy’s oil soap. Then we will show our ineptitude as we put down linoleum.  God help us.

Plus, I dreamed last night about going on the road for a summer, and woke up horrified, realizing that to take my sensitive, homebody daughter away from her sanctuary, her bedroom where she has her stuff and herself and her quiet and privacy when she wants it would be very cruel indeed.  She would have no privacy, no sanctuary in our little motorhome.  What kind of selfish idiocy would make me (want to) do such a thing?  Maybe it has all just been a diversion of mine, a chance to escape from the dirty dishes and the everyday demands of my father as he recovers from surgery. 

I’m overwhelmed. (This is not an unusual feeling for me). I also found out today that the position I had applied for at the kid’s school will not be filled by me.  I had been banking on that job to help us ‘make bank’ for the motorhome dream(s).  But at least we got our tax-rebate-stimulus-check.  Thanks G.W.  It definitely helps.  And we have finally had a little bit of monsoon rain, which has lowered the temperature considerably.  We’ll be all right.  Just talking through what I’m going through here.

We drove Little Green home over Saturday and Sunday, boondocking at a rest stop in Tulare.  The kids settled right into their bunks, no problem, but Timmy was very mosquito bitten from being outside last night in Chico.  They slept well; we all did.  At one point a cop drove through the lot, but didn’t bother us.  Nobody did.  Not even the trains that came by several times in the night.  I woke up early, probably around five, but wanted to sleep a bit more.  I kind of wish we’d gotten up then, as driving home to Vegas on the Sunday of the fourth of July was a bit of a mess.  We overheated (nearly) and had to pull over a few times, as there were two accidents that had us in stop and go traffic for over an hour.  Stop and go traffic, going up the Baker grade, coach air conditioner wasn’t working.  Not fun, but not entirely discouraging either.  We will try to do our summer desert driving much earlier from now on.  And we figured out that the air conditioner had tripped a switch…..

Prior to getting into the desert we stopped near Tehachapi at a place called the “National Chavez Center” which is where Cesar Chavez is buried.  There was a nice rose and botanical garden with fountains, but my favorite part was being able to take a small walk to look at the “golden, rolling hills of California”(from either a Bruce Cockburn or an old hippie buddy Jon Sikora song).  I love those hills, usually dotted with California Live Oak trees.  I want my kids to know and love them also, as we really are Californians even though we live in Nevada.

The kids had school Monday morning and popped out of bed no problem.  Good sign.  The trip was refreshing, not exhausting.  Steve and I ventured off to The Oasis RV Park in Vegas to empty our ‘black water’ tank.  It wasn’t hard at all.  So now we know.  I was so proud of us.  We also went to LV RV which is right next to Camping World to see about getting our air conditioner fixed or replaced.  We got a nice guy who finally came out to look inside, and he showed us how the switch had tripped, and gave us a bunch of good advice.  We are finding that rv people are friendly and helpful, so far.  Steve keeps bringing up how we could be fulltimers.  We could.  We’ll see. 

meanwhile, today I put our bumper clothesline on all by myself, as it was quite a simple deal.  Makes me think that I should invent some products to make rving simpler and more like home.  Maybe make some money that way.  Our little wooden folding dining table is finished and ready to go.  I need to see if our chairs are going to fit behind the front seats.  Lots to do and miles to go before we finish…at least we have a vehicle for our dreams now.  We are all very happy with our choice.  And working together to get all the carpet ripped out.  Not as easy as I’d hoped.

The day we met Little Green

At the National Chavez Center

The Golden, Rolling Hills Of California (Near Tehachapi)

Amazingly, I feel quite ambivalent towards our home now.  It feels disgustingly large, and I can’t believe we are paying good money to try and keep such a large space cool.  All those years I’ve spent looking through magazines hoping to find the perfect colors and storage ideas to make this place wonderful, beautiful and comfortable seem wasted now.  We are all ready to ditch it and live in our tiny new home that sits on wheels.  Timmy wants to sleep out there in the driveway, but I told him no since we are hovering around 110 degrees these days.  Yes it has a working air conditioner, and a generator to run it, but, no, you need to sleep inside while it is so hot outside.

I started tearing out the thirty year old carpet, but realized I needed a knife to do the job right.  It is way too hot to work, but for early morning or after six.  We also removed the ‘doghouse’ which covers the engine that sits between the two front seats only to find that it is somewhat burnt out (the cover, not the engine) and in need of new insulation.  Spent some time online trying to find what to get, and also found that the engine is very hot because it is missing a heat deflector to channel heat away from the engine (and my leg on the accelerator, which is just a few inches away from the engine while driving).

So we have lots to do, and a new family project, and our heads are full of travel dreams.  She gets about 12 miles to the gallon.  Not bad for an entire house on wheels.